Morgan: Violence against NHS staff will not be tolerated

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I start by thanking the Minister for this afternoon's statement. I believe, as do my colleagues, that a statement to the effect that you will take a zero-tolerance approach to people who are violent or aggressive towards NHS staff is long overdue.

The Assembly and the Government have a duty to ensure that NHS staff, working to provide healthcare in whatever form or setting that may be, can do so within a safe working environment. I welcome the fact that you are undertaking this initiative, although I am naturally suspicious of the creation of task-and-finish groups, and I certainly accept the strategic way in which you want to look at this issue, by setting some of the aims and objectives for that task-and-finish group.

I do not disagree with the three elements of looking at incident reporting, taking action against perpetrators, and providing support for staff after an incident has occurred. However, I do have some questions about what is happening at present and what needs to be addressed by the task-and-finish group.

You said, in terms of the first element, that the NHS must ensure that all incidents, including all types of violence and aggression, are reported. However, surely there is current guidance that says that NHS trusts should ensure that aggression towards and attacks on staff are recorded.

Is there a problem with the way in which information is recorded at present? Is no priority given to ensuring that this information is recorded, from the point of view of NHS trusts? The guidance is surely there, because the NHS trusts have a legal duty, as employers. Are there any concerns about the way in which guidance is, or is not, being used by the NHS?

The second element was taking action against perpetrators of violence, and I do not think that anybody here would disagree with that. You stated that guidance would be developed to ensure that the NHS has robust systems. However, guidance must surely exist at the moment for that.

If somebody is violent or aggressive towards a member of staff, does not the NHS trust, as an employer, have a legal duty to pursue a legal claim or case with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service against the individual who perpetrated the offence? I accept that it is a good idea to look at this, but surely that work should already be under way, and NHS trusts should already be doing that. I am concerned by the way in which you have written this statement: it suggests to me that this work is not happening at the moment.

The third element is the part that is often overlooked by the NHS and that is what we should all be concerned about, namely the emotional effect that such attacks, violence and aggression have on members of staff.

We have been relying far too heavily in recent years on agency nurses to fill the gaps in provision, and we cannot afford to see large numbers of the nursing profession—if we take the acute sector for example—not willing, too scared or too emotionally drained to go to work, and perhaps seeking medical help and support from doctors as a result of what has happened to them. We simply cannot afford to lose good people from the NHS, and I think that supporting them in whatever way we can will be valuable.

At this stage, I want to flag up the fact that we often seem to consider attacks on NHS staff as a problem purely for the acute sector. I am pleased that primary care is now being looked at, but we should also consider the large number of professionals who work in the field of mental health, because, for a variety of reasons, more acute levels of violence and aggression tend to come from such patients.

We must also consider the nurses and other allied health professionals whom we expect to deliver services in the community. Many of them work in isolation, and do not have a large number of people working around them, on hospital wards; they are out there, delivering services, sometimes on their own. I would like to see how you intend to provide support services for those people.

This is a step in the right direction; we accept that. I am slightly suspicious about task and finish groups, but if it leads to a better framework for reporting incidents, ensures that action is taken against perpetrators and provides support for staff, we on this side of the Chamber will support it.

In addition, I would like you take on board the point that it is the legal duty of the NHS to pursue claims now against perpetrators who act in a violent or aggressive manner towards NHS staff. In addition to this work, I ask you to look at a range of measures that could be implemented quickly in Wales to ensure that NHS trusts in particular fulfil their legal duties."